Saturday, March 17, 2012

There is nothing environmental about their goals. This is a poorly veiled attempt to significantly increase the cost of ammunition in a back door attempt increase the difficulty and expense of citizens exercising their first amendment rights. This failed the first time around pretty miserably, and I would suspect given the timing it will again now. If the Republicans do not take the White House in the upcoming election, expect a third attempt with much better chances.

"Well, the enviros are back with another attempt to get the EPA to regulate ammunition (via Instapundit). Think they’re still disinterested in seeking that authority?

Citing risks to birds and to human health, roughly 100 environmental groups formally asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency this week to ban or at least impose limits on lead in the manufacturing of bullets and shotgun pellets for hunting or recreation.

The use of such ammo by hunters puts about 3,000 pounds of lead into the environment annually and causes the death of 20 million birds each year from lead poisoning, said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate at one of the groups, the Center for Biological Diversity. Consumption of meat from animals that are shot with lead bullets also contributes unacceptable levels of the metal into people’s diets, Mr. Miller said in a phone interview.

The ban sought by environmental groups would not apply to ammunition used by law enforcement and the military. In addition to bullets and pellets used in hunting and recreational activity like range shooting, the petition seeks to limit the use of the metal in fishing tackle and weights.

The application to range shooting should be another tip-off. While some ranges are open-air, few if any wild animals would graze on the range to consume the spent rounds, and fewer yet would be around to consume them. They’re not interested in protecting the environment from lead; they want to use the EPA to make it much more difficult and expensive for gun owners to buy ammunition by having the agency seize the authority to regulate a key component of firearms."